Massachusetts AG upholds order to collect racial profiling data

[JURIST] Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly has upheld an order by Secretary of Public Safety Edward Flynn that will force 128 cities and towns in the state to collect traffic stop data to determine if local police departments are engaging in racial profiling. Flynn issued the order following a legislatively-commissioned report [PDF] from Northeastern University's Institute on Race and Justice which analyzed traffic citations, warnings and search data for the state's 366 law enforcement agencies. Based on the report, Flynn ordered 249 cities and towns to collect data for a year. Of these cities, 130 appealed to the attorney general. Reilly indicated that the decision in no way leads to the conclusion that these law enforcement agencies have engaged in racial profiling. Read the Massachusetts Attorney General's press release here. The Attorney General also has copies of letters sent to the appealing police departments here. AP has more.

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